Indoor pot farm busted

CORNERSVILLE -- A routine traffic stop late Monday night led to the discovery and confiscation of an indoor marijuana-growing operation here, according to police.

Nineteen marijuana plants were confiscated and stored in Police Chief Todd Bone's office until they could be transported to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the chief said Wednesday.

Timothy Paul Gooden, 35, of Wilson Hollow Road in the Liberty Community, was arrested on Monday and charged with driving under the influence of an intoxicant and manufacture of marijuana, public records show.

Information arising from that traffic stop prompted law officers to obtain a search warrant and that led them to the South Main Street, Cornersville, home of Erin Elizabeth Becktold, 33, who was charged with manufacture of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The plant growing operation was discovered in the attaic of her home, according to Tim Miller, director of the 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force that's headquartered in Shelbyville and has a primary jurisdiction in four counties.

Cornersville Police, assisted by officers of the Drug Task Force, searched South Main Street house on Tuesday and found what Bone called a complete operation to grow and prepare marijuana for use, lawmen said.